C. S. Lewis Bible: New Revised Standard Version

with oil from flinty rock;

14 curds from the herd, and milk from the flock,

with fat of lambs and rams;

Bashan bulls and goats,

together with the choicest wheat—

you drank fine wine from the blood of grapes.

15 Jacob ate his fill;[73]

Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked.

You grew fat, bloated, and gorged!

He abandoned God who made him,

and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.

16 They made him jealous with strange gods,

with abhorrent things they provoked him.

17 They sacrificed to demons, not God,

to deities they had never known,

to new ones recently arrived,

whom your ancestors had not feared.

18 You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you;[74]

you forgot the God who gave you birth.

19 The LORD saw it, and was jealous;[75]

he spurned[76] his sons and daughters.

20 He said: I will hide my face from them,

I will see what their end will be;

for they are a perverse generation,

children in whom there is no faithfulness.

21 They made me jealous with what is no god,

provoked me with their idols.

So I will make them jealous with what is no people,

provoke them with a foolish nation.

22 For a fire is kindled by my anger,

and burns to the depths of Sheol;

it devours the earth and its increase,

and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.

23 I will heap disasters upon them,

spend my arrows against them:

24 wasting hunger,

burning consumption,

bitter pestilence.

The teeth of beasts I will send against them,

with venom of things crawling in the dust.

25 In the street the sword shall bereave,

and in the chambers terror,

for young man and woman alike,

nursing child and old gray head.

26 I thought to scatter them[77]

and blot out the memory of them from humankind;

27 but I feared provocation by the enemy,

for their adversaries might misunderstand

and say, “Our hand is triumphant;

it was not the LORD who did all this.”

28 They are a nation void of sense;

there is no understanding in them.

29 If they were wise, they would understand this;

they would discern what the end would be.

30 How could one have routed a thousand,

and two put a myriad to flight,

unless their Rock had sold them,

the LORD had given them up?

31 Indeed their rock is not like our Rock;

our enemies are fools.[77]

32 Their vine comes from the vinestock of Sodom,

from the vineyards of Gomorrah;

their grapes are grapes of poison,

their clusters are bitter;

33 their wine is the poison of serpents,

the cruel venom of asps.

34 Is not this laid up in store with me,

sealed up in my treasuries?

35 Vengeance is mine, and recompense,

for the time when their foot shall slip;

because the day of their calamity is at hand,

their doom comes swiftly.

36 Indeed the LORD will vindicate his people,

have compassion on his servants,

when he sees that their power is gone,

neither bond nor free remaining.

37 Then he will say: Where are their gods,

the rock in which they took refuge,

38 who ate the fat of their sacrifices,

and drank the wine of their libations?

Let them rise up and help you,

let them be your protection!

39 See now that I, even I, am he;

there is no god besides me.

I kill and I make alive;

I wound and I heal;

and no one can deliver from my hand.

40 For I lift up my hand to heaven,

and swear: As I live forever,

41 when I whet my flashing sword,

and my hand takes hold on judgment;

I will take vengeance on my adversaries,

and will repay those who hate me.

42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,

and my sword shall devour flesh—

with the blood of the slain and the captives,

from the long-haired enemy.

43 Praise, O heavens,[78] his people,

worship him, all you gods![79]

For he will avenge the blood of his children,[80]

and take vengeance on his adversaries;

he will repay those who hate him,[79]

and cleanse the land for his people.[81]

44 Moses came and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and Joshua[82] son of Nun. 45When Moses had finished reciting all these words to all Israel, 46he said to them: “Take to heart all the words that I am giving in witness against you today; give them as a command to your children, so that they may diligently observe all the words of this law. 47This is no trifling matter for you, but rather your very life; through it you may live long in the land that you are crossing over the Jordan to possess.”

48 On that very day the LORD addressed Moses as follows: 49“Ascend this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, across from Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites for a possession; 50you shall die there on the mountain that you ascend and shall be gathered to your kin, as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his kin; 51because both of you broke faith with me among the Israelites at the waters of Meribath-kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, by failing to maintain my holiness among the Israelites. 52Although you may view the land from a distance, you shall not enter it—the land that I am giving to the Israelites.”

33 This is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the Israelites before his death. 2He said:

The LORD came from Sinai,

and dawned from Seir upon us;[83]

he shone forth from Mount Paran.

With him were myriads of holy ones;[84]

at his right, a host of his own.[85]

3 Indeed, O favorite among[86] peoples,

all his holy ones were in your charge;

they marched at your heels,

accepted direction from you.

4 Moses charged us with the law,

as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.

5 There arose a king in Jeshurun,

when the leaders of the people assembled—

the united tribes of Israel.

6 May Reuben live, and not die out,

even though his numbers are few.

7And this he said of Judah:

O LORD, give heed to Judah,

and bring him to his people;

strengthen his hands for him,[87]

and be a help against his adversaries.

8And of Levi he said:

Give to Levi[88] your Thummim,

and your Urim to your loyal one,

whom you tested at Massah,

with whom you contended at the waters of Meribah;

9 who said of his father and mother,

“I regard them not”;

he ignored his kin,

and did not acknowledge his children.

For they observed your word,

and kept your covenant.

10 They teach Jacob your ordinances,

and Israel your law;

they place incense before you,

and whole burnt offerings on your altar.

11 Bless, O LORD, his substance,

and accept the work of his hands;

crush the loins of his adversaries,

of those that hate him, so that they do not rise again.

12Of Benjamin he said:

The beloved of the LORD rests in safety—

the High God[89] surrounds him all day long—

the beloved[90] rests between his shoulders.

13And of Joseph he said:

Blessed by the LORD be his land,

with the choice gifts of heaven above,

and of the deep that lies beneath;

14 with the choice fruits of the sun,

and the rich yield of the months;

15 with the finest produce of the ancient mountains,

and the abundance of the everlasting hills;

16 with the choice gifts of the earth and its fullness,

and the favor of the one who dwells on Sinai.[91]

Let these come on the head of Joseph,

on the brow of the prince among his brothers.

17 A firstborn[92] bull—majesty is his!

His horns are the horns of a wild ox;

with them he gores the peoples,

driving them to[93] the ends of the earth;

such are the myriads of Ephraim,

such the thousands of Manasseh.

18And of Zebulun he said:

Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out;

and Issachar, in your tents.

19 They call peoples to the mountain;

there they offer the right sacrifices;

for they suck the affluence of the seas

and the hidden treasures of the sand.

20And of Gad he said:

Blessed be the enlargement of Gad!

Gad lives like a lion;

he tears at arm and scalp.

21 He chose the best for himself,

for there a commander’s allotment was reserved;

he came at the head of the people,

he executed the justice of the LORD,

and his ordinances for Israel.

22And of Dan he said:

Dan is a lion’s whelp

that leaps forth from Bashan.

23And of Naphtali he said:

O Naphtali, sated with favor,

full of the blessing of the LORD,

possess the west and the south.

24And of Asher he said:

Most blessed of sons be Asher;

may he be the favorite of his brothers,

and may he dip his foot in oil.

25 Your bars are iron and bronze;

and as your days, so is your strength.

26 There is none like God, O Jeshurun,

who rides through the heavens to your help,

majestic through the skies.

27 He subdues the ancient gods,[94]

shatters[95] the forces of old;[96]

he drove out the enemy before you,

and said, “Destroy!”

28 So Israel lives in safety,

untroubled is Jacob’s abode[97]

in a land of grain and wine,

where the heavens drop down dew.

29 Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you,

a people saved by the LORD,

the shield of your help,

and the sword of your triumph!

Your enemies shall come fawning to you,

and you shall tread on their backs.

34 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho, and the LORD showed him the whole land: Gilead as far as Dan, 2all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, 3the Negeb, and the Plain—that is, the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees—as far as Zoar. 4The LORD said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants’; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there.” 5Then Moses, the servant of the LORD, died there in the land of Moab, at the LORD’s command. 6He was buried in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor, but no one knows his burial place to this day. 7Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died; his sight was unimpaired and his vigor had not abated. 8The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the period of mourning for Moses was ended.

9 Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him; and the Israelites obeyed him, doing as the Lord had commanded Moses.

10 Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face. 11He was unequaled for all the signs and wonders that the LORD sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants and his entire land, 12and for all the mighty deeds and all the terrifying displays of power that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

[1] Gk Syr Vg Compare Josh 12.4: Heb lacks and

[2] Sam Gk: MT the LORD

[3] Or Sea of Reeds

[4] Gk Tg: Heb and all

[5] Heb territory from Aroer

[6] That is Settlement of Jair

[7] Heb Salt Sea

[8] Heb the ten words

[9] Syr: Heb Sion

[10] Q Mss Sam Gk Syr Vg Tg: MT word

[11] Or besides

[12] Or to thousands

[13] Or kill

[14] Or The LORD our God is one LORD, or The LORD our God, the LORD is one, or The LORD is our God, the LORD is one

[15] Or as a frontlet

[16] Heb Asherim

[17] Or hornets: Meaning of Heb uncertain

[18] Or by anything that the LORD decrees

[19] Or fiery; Heb seraph

[20] Sam Gk: MT I have

[21] Heb the ten words

[22] Or the wells of the Bene-jaakan

[23] Q Ms Gk Syr: MT lacks your God

[24] Or Sea of Reeds

[25] Compare Gk: Heb my commandments

[26] Sam Gk Vg: MT I

[27] Or as a frontlet

[28] Gk Syr: Compare Gen 12.6; Heb oaks or terebinths

[29] Heb Asherim

[30] Or on

[31] Gk Sam Syr: MT lacks today

[32] Ch 13.1 in Heb

[33] Ch 13.2 in Heb

[34] Sam Gk Compare Tg: MT lacks your father’s son or

[35] Or pelican

[36] Identification of several of the birds in verses 12–18 is uncertain

[37] Or sells himself or herself

[38] Heb him

[39] Or bondman

[40] Or bondwoman

[41] Or new moon

[42] Or tabernacles; Heb succoth

[43] Heb Asherah

[44] Meaning of Heb uncertain

[45] Heb him

[46] Or prophets

[47] Or such prophets

[48] Or mouths of the prophets

[49] Heb he

[50] Or prepare roads to them

[51] Heb two-thirds

[52] Ch 23.1 in Heb

[53] Heb uncovering his father’s skirt

[54] Heb a dog

[55] A term for several skin diseases; precise meaning uncertain

[56] Heb lacks the garment given you as

[57] Heb whole

[58] Heb uncovered his father’s skirt

[59] Ch 28.69 in Heb

[60] Ch 29.1 in Heb

[61] Or deal wisely

[62] Gk Syr: Heb your leaders, your tribes

[63] Meaning of Heb uncertain

[64] Heb of heaven

[65] Gk: Heb lacks If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God

[66] Q Ms Gk: MT Moses went and spoke

[67] Or tabernacles; Heb succoth

[68] Meaning of Heb uncertain

[69] Traditional rendering of Heb Elyon

[70] Q Ms Compare Gk Tg: MT the Israelites

[71] Sam Gk Compare Tg: MT found

[72] Sam Gk Syr Tg: MT he ate

[73] Q Mss Sam Gk: MT lacks Jacob ate his fill

[74] Or that begot you

[75] Q Mss Gk: MT lacks was jealous

[76] Cn: Heb he spurned because of provocation

[77] Gk: Meaning of Heb uncertain

[78] Q Ms Gk: MT nations

[79] Q Ms Gk: MT lacks this line

[80] Q Ms Gk: MT his servants

[81] Q Ms Sam Gk Vg: MT his land his people

[82] Sam Gk Syr Vg: MT Hoshea

[83] Gk Syr Vg Compare Tg: Heb upon them

[84] Cn Compare Gk Sam Syr Vg: MT He came from Ribeboth-kodesh,

[85] Cn Compare Gk: meaning of Heb uncertain

[86] Or O lover of the

[87] Cn: Heb with his hands he contended

[88] Q Ms Gk: MT lacks Give to Levi

[89] Heb above him

[90] Heb he

[91] Cn: Heb in the bush

[92] Q Ms Gk Syr Vg: MT His firstborn

[93] Cn: Heb the peoples, together

[94] Or The eternal God is a dwelling place

[95] Cn: Heb from underneath

[96] Or the everlasting arms

[97] Or fountain

JOSHUA

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying, 2“My servant Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites. 3Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, as I promised to Moses. 4From the wilderness and the Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, to the Great Sea in the west shall be your territory. 5No one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. 6Be strong and courageous; for you shall put this people in possession of the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them. 7Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go. 8This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful. 9I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, 11“Pass through the camp, and command the people: ‘Prepare your provisions; for in three days you are to cross over the Jordan, to go in to take possession of the land that the LORD your God gives you to possess.’”

12 To the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh Joshua said, 13“Remember the word that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, ‘The LORD your God is providing you a place of rest, and will give you this land.’ 14Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land that Moses gave you beyond the Jordan. But all the warriors among you shall cross over armed before your kindred and shall help them, 15until the LORD gives rest to your kindred as well as to you, and they too take possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving them. Then you shall return to your own land and take possession of it, the land that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you beyond the Jordan to the east.”

16 They answered Joshua: “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you, as he was with Moses! 18Whoever rebels against your orders and disobeys your words, whatever you command, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.”

BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS

When a thing has to be attempted, one must never think about possibility or impossibility. Faced with an optional question in an examination paper, one considers whether one can do it or not: faced with a compulsory question, one must do the best one can. You may get some marks for a very imperfect answer: you will certainly get none for leaving the question alone. Not only in examinations but in war, in mountain climbing, in learning to skate, or swim, or ride a bicycle, even in fastening a stiff collar with cold fingers, people quite often do what seemed impossible before they did it. It is wonderful what you can do when you have to.

We may, indeed, be sure that perfect chastity—like perfect charity—will not be attained by any merely human efforts. You must ask for God’s help. Even when you have done so, it may seem to you for a long time that no help, or less help than you need, is being given. Never mind. After each failure, ask forgiveness, pick yourself up, and try again. Very often what God first helps us towards is not the virtue itself but just this power of always trying again. For however important chastity (or courage, or truthfulness, or any other virtue) may be, this process trains us in habits of the soul which are more important still. It cures our illusions about ourselves and teaches us to depend on God. We learn, on the one hand, that we cannot trust ourselves even in our best moments, and, on the other, that we need not despair even in our worst, for our failures are forgiven. The only fatal thing is to sit down content with anything less than perfection.

—from Mere Christianity

For reflection

Joshua 1:6–9

2 Then Joshua son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went, and entered the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and spent the night there. 2The king of Jericho was told, “Some Israelites have come here tonight to search out the land.” 3Then the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come only to search out the whole land.” 4But the woman took the two men and hid them. Then she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they came from. 5And when it was time to close the gate at dark, the men went out. Where the men went I do not know. Pursue them quickly, for you can overtake them.” 6She had, however, brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax that she had laid out on the roof. 7So the men pursued them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. As soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.

8 Before they went to sleep, she came up to them on the roof 9and said to the men: “I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that dread of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt in fear before you. 10For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea[1] before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. 11As soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no courage left in any of us because of you. The LORD your God is indeed God in heaven above and on earth below. 12Now then, since I have dealt kindly with you, swear to me by the LORD that you in turn will deal kindly with my family. Give me a sign of good faith 13that you will spare my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” 14The men said to her, “Our life for yours! If you do not tell this business of ours, then we will deal kindly and faithfully with you when the LORD gives us the land.”